Which BKP For A Strat Type Guitar?

[ilikemusicsometimes]

Hello Bare Knuckle Forum!

I'm ordering a new American Select Strat HSS (mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard) and I wanted to get a nice set of Bare Knuckle pickups to go along with it. I mainly write some pretty progressive metal pieces but also want a guitar capable of more than just your traditional metal tones. So here's what I'm looking for:

1. Bridge pickup: something higher output and VERY aggressive but also clear enough to play lots of chords with under gain. Unscooped mid range and not much hum from the pickup would be awesome. I've been mainly looking at the Aftermath but I'd imagine it might be a bit on the bright side in a Strat?

2. Middle and neck pickups: warmer, lower to moderate output single coils, preferably keeping that Strat clean tone but with the ability to handle a bit more dirt when I feel the need to crank the gain a little bit. I would like to avoid a very "compressed" pickup here since extreme amounts of dynamics are VERY important to the way I play. I don't honestly know if Bare Knuckle has much in this area since I haven't taken a ton of time looking at much but a set of Lindy Fralins but if they do have something great here I'd love to look into it! :)

Anyone have any good recommendations for a setup like this?

[Slartibartfarst42]

For middle and neck I'd say Trilogy Suites but the bridge is more difficult. You want something VERY aggressive but also quite versatile and to me, those two requirements don't easily go together. I think I'd have to say Alnico Nailbomb. It's supposed to be highly versatile though I didn't find it so myself. It is however, very tight and aggressive and in mahogany would probably offer more versatility than it did in my maple neck-thru.

[Pete24v]

+1 for the Trilogy suites, they are a fantastic and versatile pickup. I used a 300k volume (bought from BKP) which gives them a nice clarity, they clean up real nice too. 

[Telerocker]

Initial I think Nailbomb, but you might want to check out the Rebel Yell too. That one is on the bright side, but your strat is mahogany, so it could be an option. The RY has agression and can do metal, but cleans up nice.  To balance things I would say Irish Tours or Slowhands (more mids and bas) in middle- en neckposition.

[Mr. Air]

I'm thinking nailbomb for the bridge as well. It's really aggressive and tight for an alnico pickup and I find it very versatile (in an LP clone though). I don't know much about the single coils, but I think the choice is between irish tours and trilogies, just like the others said.

[ilikemusicsometimes]

Initial I think Nailbomb, but you might want to check out the Rebel Yell too. That one is on the bright side, but your strat is mahogany, so it could be an option. The RY has agression and can do metal, but cleans up nice.  To balance things I would say Irish Tours or Slowhands (more mids and bas) in middle- en neckposition.

I'm interested in the Rebel Yell mainly because I don't think I've even looked at that one. Our stuff gets fairly heavy. It borders on death metal sometimes and is usually fairly drop tuned (Drop C). Could the Rebel Yell handle that as well as the Nailbomb and such? I don't really need the bridge to clean up all that well. That's what the single coils are for on this guitar.

And I'm torn between the Irish Tour and the Slow Hand. They both sound really good. I like the mid spike on the slow hand but I dont know how the mahogany would react to that.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I believe the Rebel Yell was originally developed from the Nailbomb and is both tight and bright. I've only tried the Nailbomb first hand myself and the Rebel Yell always sounds a bit more polite to me while the Nailbomb was very aggressive. I have no doubt they'd both do low tunings. I'd still go Trilogy Suites for neck and middle.

[Telerocker]

The RY will be tight enough for downtuning. Mind you, all scatterwound pickups are sensitive for height, but the RY in particular, so you need to fiddle to find the sweet spot in your guitar.
Personally I would drop IT's in a mahogany strat. Btw, you can ask the BKP-team a recommendation.

[ilikemusicsometimes]

Lol sorry I'm really new here and didn't know! I'll make sure to ask them when it comes closer to the time I'm going to purchase these wonderful pickups. Thanks for all the help so far guys! :)

[Telerocker]

Just send them a mail with the precise description of the guitar and tones you're aiming at.